Israeli forces Wednesday overnight detained 18 Palestinians, including a prominent taekwondo player, from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.

They said that Israeli forces rounded up two Palestinians; one from al-Bireh city neighborhood of mm al-Sharayet and the other from al-Janiya village, northwest of Ramallah.

In Jerusalem district, a convoy of army vehicles stormed Abu Dis town, south of the city, where the soldiers detained four others, including two brothers, and ransacked the houses of their families.

They conducted separate two raids in Nabi Samwil village and al-Ram town, northwest and northeast of the city, resulting in the detention of two others.

This came as police detained three others; Palestinian taekwondo player Anas Al-Dajani from Salah al-Din Street and the two others from the old city.

In the southern West Bank, the gun-toting soldiers barged their way into Dheisha refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, and detained a 16-year-old teen.

They also showed up at three houses in Bani Na‘im town, east of Hebron, muscled inside, conducted thorough searches and eventually rounded up three others, including a 17-year-old teen.

The sources confirmed that another was detained from Hebron city.

In the northern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in the Nablus city neighborhood of al-Makhfiya, resulting in the detention of two others.

On Tuesday evening, six other Palestinians were detained from various parts of the West Bank.

In Nablus district, special Israeli forces sneaked their way into Salem village, east of the city, broke into a commercial store and detained a person.

A resident of Meithalun town, south of Jenin, was detained while inside Israel.

Police detained another Palestinian from the Old City of Jerusalem.

The three other detainees were construction workers. Soldiers opened fire at them in the vicinity of the section of Israel’s apartheid wall, west of Hebron, and wounded them before handcuffing them.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.

These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers.

Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised.

According to the latest figures from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are currently 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 400 children and 30 female prisoners.

This number includes approximately 800 Palestinians placed under “administrative detention”, that allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals ranging between three and six months based on undisclosed evidence that even a detainee’s lawyer is barred from viewing.

Mass arrest of Palestinians is nothing new. According to a 2017 report by Addameer, over the past 50 years, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned or detained by Israel, this figure is now believed to be closer to 1 million. This means that about 40% of Palestinian men and boys living under military occupation have been deprived of their freedom. Almost every Palestinian family has suffered the imprisonment of a loved one.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency